1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable display shelf for retail display of merchandise, wherein the depth of the display shelf can be adjusted to accommodate products of different sizes.
2. Description of Prior Art
It is customary for retailers to display merchandise on shelves that are hooked into slotted uprights mounted on a base. The shelves are frequently formed of a wire mat mounted on brackets that hook into the slotted uprights. The shelves are replaceable with shelves of different depths, depending upon the size of the product being mounted on the shelf. Shelves of different depths are usually stored in a warehouse when they are not being used.
A desirable feature of display shelves is to provide a waterfall or cascade effect, wherein the shelves become increasingly deeper from the top to the bottom of the upright support. This requires an inventory of a substantial number of shelves of different depths.
It is inconvenient and expensive to maintain a number of shelves of different depths and to change the shelves when products of different sizes are to be mounted on the shelves. This requires finding the shelves at the warehouse and exchanging the shelves for those presently in the display mechanism.
An object of the invention is to provide a single shelf having an adjustable depth, so that replacement of shelves is no longer required.
A shelf mechanism comprises one or more adjustable shelves mounted on one or more support members. The shelves include a fixed shelf mountable on the support mechanism, an adjustable shelf mounted on the fixed shelf for inward and outward movement on the fixed shelf to vary the depth of the shelf, and a locking mechanism for holding the adjustable shelf in one or more extended positions with respect to the fixed shelf.
The shelves include product support surfaces mounted on spaced shelf brackets, with the shelf brackets for the fixed shelf including connectors at rear ends that mate with connectors on the support members to support the shelf at a fixed elevation. The shelf brackets for the adjustable shelf are positioned adjacent to and attached to the shelf brackets for the fixed shelf for inward and outward movement with respect thereto. The shelves are constructed and connected such that upper surfaces of the fixed and adjustable shelves are substantially coplanar when the shelves are positioned in one or more of the extended positions, the shelves being held in the extended position when they are coplanar. The shelves are movable to non-coplanar positions wherein the relative extended positions of the shelves can be adjusted.
The shelves desirably comprise wire mat product support surfaces comprising spaced, interconnected longitudinal and transverse wires. Each wire mat has an upper surface that defines an upper plane, the mats fitting together at each extended position such that the upper planes of the shelves are coplanar.
In the preferred practice of the invention, the wire mats comprise longitudinal wires on top of transverse wires, the transverse wires of the fixed shelf comprising downwardly extending notches at positions corresponding to the desired extended positions, the longitudinal wires of the adjustable mat fitting into the notches when the adjustable mat is at the desired extended positions, such that the adjustable shelf mat lockingly nests in the fixed shelf mat and the shelves present a substantially coplanar upper surface. The shelves are connected together but are movable out of a locked coplanar relationship to permit inward and outward position adjustment of the shelves.
Another feature of the invention is that adjacent shelves can be mounted at the same elevation in the same mounting slot in a vertical support member. To accomplish this, shelf brackets for the fixed shelves include outwardly offset portions at rear ends that include hooks for mounting the shelf to the support member. The offset portions extend outwardly past the end of the shelf, so two shelves can be mounted together end to end in the same slot in the support member.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention are shown and described below in connection with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.